


Fell For You

by LollyHolly99



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, F/M, Feelings, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Other, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader is in Frisk's place, Reader-Insert, Tsundere Papyrus?, and denying said feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8754001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LollyHolly99/pseuds/LollyHolly99
Summary: The Great and Terrible Papyrus is in love with you or something? But there's no way that could happen, right? ...Right?





	1. Nope

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what I'm doing in the slightest  
> here's the first chapter of something I've had sitting around for a while  
> it's bad and mega short (but then when hasn't a first chapter from me been that way HAHA) and I should be working on Bros To Babies instead of showing off something new but SCREW IT amirite
> 
> v sorry pls 4give me
> 
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> I make a million mistakes every day and this is one of them lmao  
> again v sorry  
> v bad and I will (maybe) rewrite this at some point but right now I just. really feel like putting something out there tonight. even if it's just 600-ish words. later chapters are longer I swear pls
> 
> Also! I'd like to know what you guys would like to see from me next! I have a few things in the works and it'd be cool to know if there's a preference for what I continue first ^^ Right now I've got:  
> -Bros to Babies  
> -this thing  
> -a fic in which reader become Mettaton's assistant (later including plenty of sans/reader bc OF COURSE IT IS HAVE YOU MET ME)  
> -a fic where Papyrus saves a suicidal reader (which will go very well _I_AM_SURE_)  
> -a oneshot(?) where reader is a teacher and Sans is a TA and like all the students ship it  
> -a group of drabbles surrounding the word 'monster' in Sans and reader's relationship  
> -a oneshot in which Sans just straight up dies after being on the surface for a while and everyone (including reader, his datemate) just has to deal with the aftermath  
> -a oneshot about a sleepy morning w/ reader & their friend, Sans  
> -a oneshot where the swap bros treat a female reader like a princess  
> -and a bittybones fic with Cherry (MY PRECIOUS)  
> sorry for the long beginning notes but I'm honestly curious  
> this probably would've been better as a poll probably? sorry sorry sorry there's another mistake hnnnng I'll do that next time?
> 
> anyway on to the fic!! again super sorry

What had you done to this poor, lovestruck skeleton?!

Papyrus had... fallen in love with you? No...

You were interesting. And, yes, you were pleasing to the eye. And the way you stood up to his authority was somewhat... exciting. Intriguing. Magnetic.

Gah, no! How could he have such thoughts?! And whilst on guard duty, no less!

Although, there was no need for his patrolling outside the king's home. Ever since you taught all the monsters that there was no need to kill or be killed, and they could live in harmony and peace, and brought them all to the surface a few weeks ago, there was no need for a royal guard. But there was no chance in hell that The Great and Terrible Papyrus was giving up his esteemed position that he had worked so hard for.

Then you were there in his thoughts again. The most excellent trainee in line to be a member of the monster king’s royal guard and the human who saved the underground. What a lovely pair you would be. The titles, put together, had a certain ring to them, he thought. Yes, people would celebrate the relationship, would they not? You two were kind of celebrities. He'd seen the way people showered celebrity couples in attention and praise in the time he had been living on the surface. When they began dating, whenever they talked about the other, when they got married... No, not that far. Not yet.

...NO. Not far in any sense! Not at any time! The Great and Terrible Papyrus had no need, no desire at all for any relationship, especially not with you! How could his mind betray him in such a way by giving him such thoughts of having you for a datemate?! No, surely it was just those intrusive thoughts - the ones that you know are bad, but can't get out of your head, like... like that time Undyne turned her back on him, and he could only think about how easy it would be to kill her then and there, despite his unfaltering admiration of the captain. Yes, that was it! He didn't desire you at all, not in the slightest! It was simply an unwanted thought passing through his brain that would be gone soon enough.

Goodbye, human! Maybe someone else who is not as great will be interested in dating yo-

“Hey, Papyrus!” He had been so deep in thought, denying you, that he hadn't noticed your sudden presence next to him.

“Oh. Greetings, human.” He paused. “Why, might I ask, are you here?”

“I was walking by your place and Sans asked if I could bring you your lunch. Since you forgot it and all.” You held out the small Tupperware box filled with lasagne that you had been carrying to give to him, and he took it from you almost cautiously.

“Well... Thankyou, human. I... appreciate your efforts.” He looked as though he was struggling to say the words.

“No problem, man. And I told you, stop calling me ‘human’. You're on the surface now. There's literally billions of us humans. Call me by my name.”

“Y/N?” he said slowly, as though the word were foreign to him.

“Yep, that's it. Well, I've gotta go. Got stuff to do. See ya, Paps!” you said, already leaving, waving at the skeleton.

“Goodbye...” He looked down at the lasagne in his hands. “...Y/N...”

Seeing you, talking to you, holding this result of a kind gesture by you...

Maybe he was wrong.

Aaaaghhhh!!

What had you done to this poor, lovestruck skeleton?!


	2. Flowers and More Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get a lovely gift from the Edgelord.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told u guys it was gonna be longer than ch1 (and this time the notes aren't half the length of the damn chapter lmao).
> 
> anyway hey here's this *shrugs* hope you like it and that it's not super dumb
> 
> so yeah this is the last chapter for this fic that I had ready and now ch3 is gonna take. 3 whole years. I'll try to reduce that time I swear.
> 
> w/e hope you enjoy and I'm so sorry.

Flowers. Papyrus had gotten you flowers. He had never done anything like this before. It was to thank you for your efforts in freeing the monsters from the underground, he told himself. Yes, that was it. That was the only reason. The awful thoughts that had been plaguing his mind recently of you two, together, as a couple, doing such repugnant things as holding hands, and kissing, and cuddling, and sharing your affection with one another, those had nothing to do with the flowers.

But was awful the right word?

Absolutely! How dare his mind question the vileness of the idea that someone such as yourself, or indeed anyone, could have charmed The Great and Terrible Papyrus? It was those thoughts again. They were trying to brainwash him, for sure. They were there, worse than ever, and they were spreading throughout his mind, conquering everything in their path. But Papyrus had an iron will, and he would stop them in their tracks! There should be, and soon would be, absolutely no thoughts of how charming he found you. None at all. Not even a one about how he could sometimes even feel his soul glowing brighter at the thought of you.

Not a one. And these flowers had nothing at all to do with the sickly ideas.

* * *

 

He walked into the florists curiously, peeking around at the blooms, wondering if there were any echo flowers that he could simply yell his message into and leave on your doorstep in order to avoid facing you. Simply to save time, of course.

“Hi! Welcome!” greeted the florist – a young lady with long black hair, wearing dungarees over a red t-shirt.

“Hello.” responded Papyrus absentmindedly, wondering why there were strange little onion-like things near all the colourful flowers. Maybe it was a human thing.

“How can I help you today, sir?” She acted as though this 7 foot tall skeleton clad in armor was just your average customer at her shop.

The skeleton snapped to attention. “Oh, um, yes.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “I'm looking to buy a bouquet of flowers.”

“Then you've come to the right place!” said the girl with a soft smile. “Anything you're looking for in particular? Might they be for a special someone?”

“Well...” He lost himself in thought for a moment. “They certainly are special...” Freeing all the monsters from the underground was quite a feat, was it not? “...and they are a someone...” You exist, and you are a person, and so you can be considered someone. So since you happen to be both things...

“...Yes! They are for a special someone!” finished Papyrus, with all the confidence in the world.

“Oh, how lovely! Ok, so are you looking for something big or small?”

“Why of course, something grand! Only the greatest from The Great and Terrible Papyrus!”

“Alright then! Ooh, we just got these beautiful bright red roses in! I can get you a nice big bunch of them if you want.”

“Yes, that sounds very nice... Thankyou.” Red. For the colour of his magic. Good. Not to be interpreted in a ‘to make you think of me’ way, but maybe in a kind of ‘I am leaving my mark in your home, now recognise my authority for once, goddamnit’ way.

The girl disappeared for a moment and returned with a large bouquet of roses, just too big for her to carry in one arm.

“So, I just have to ask,” she began, placing the flowers down gently on the counter. “Sorry, I'm just naturally really nosy. The recipient of these flowers – what are they like? How did you two meet?”

“Horrible.” Papyrus responded without any hesitation. “Lately I've been infuriated by the mere thought of them.”

“Big fight then, I assume? Well, you've totally got enough petals here to make up for it.”

“Yes, we did happen to fight, back in the underground. I am ashamed to say it was my first loss ever in a battle, apart from during training with Captain Undyne. But never again!”

“Uh, ok.” She seemed confused for a minute, but shook her head and carried on. “And how did you meet? I just have to know.” She leaned on the counter, holding her head in her hands, smiling up at Papyrus with a warm smile.

“They came around trying to convince me and my people to stop killing each other.”

“Oh, uh, wow.” Now she was entirely taken aback. “Killing? Like, actual death?”

“Yes. Fear not, human, for we monsters have truly changed. The soon-to-be owner of these flowers saw to that.”

"Whew." she sighed in relief. “Good, because for a second there you had me pretty scared. And not even with those big old teeth of yours.”

“Yes, well, I will be paying for these flowers now, and leaving. Then I suppose I shall scare you no more.”

After a few more attempts by Papyrus to end the conversation and leave the fragrant store, the girl asked if he wanted a little handwritten card to go with the bunch, which he accepted. As Papyrus spoke, she copied down what he said (And leaving in the mistakes instead of grabbing another card. He just didn't have the time), in beautiful, swirling letters:

“ ~~Human~~ Y/N,

For a someone who also happens to be special, or, in other words, a special someone,

 ~~I, The Grea~~ We, the monsters of the underground, very much appreciate what you have done for our people.

From,

The Great And Terrible Papyrus”

It was perfect. And not romantic at all. Which made it more perfect.

After another handful of tries at escaping her conversational clutches, Papyrus practically threw the money at the girl and strode out of the shop hastily. Finally, freedom. It was almost like leaving the underground all over again.

Now it was time to give the human the flowers!

* * *

 

Before he knew it, Papyrus was stood outside your front door, bouquet in hand. He rang your doorbell, and when you didn't immediately rush to answer, he began ringing it incessantly until he got a reaction.

“Alright, alright!” you shouted through a previously opened window. “Gimme a minute! Let me put some pants on!”

A few moments later, when you'd found some jeans and thrown them on, you opened the door, ending up coming face to face with Papyrus’ breastplate before tilting your head up to see his face, as was usual when he visited without warning.

“Oh. Hey Pap.” you said, unsurprised. Of course it would be Papyrus ringing endlessly.

He held his hands behind his back and stood up even straighter than usual (somehow), almost thrusting his chest out, looking even more royal-guard-y than usual somehow (and somehow royal-guard-y was now an adjective you were using).

“Hello, huma- hmm... _Y/N_...”

You were pleased at the correction.

“So, what brings you here, skeleman?” you asked, leaning on the door frame and crossing your arms.

“Don't call me that.” he hissed. He cleared his throat, then continued again in his usual tone. “I came to you today to bring you these.” He brought his hands out from behind him, and with them came a big bouquet of red roses.

Your eyes widened in surprise and wonder at the sight of the flowers. You didn't have long to stare at them speechlessly, as you were doing, before Papyrus shoved them into your arms.

“Please understand that this is nothing to do with any ludicrous ‘romantic feelings’” he waved his hands mockingly, “of mine that you may accidentally believe exist. This is simply an expression of gratitude. A collective one from monsterkind at that. That just so happens to have been purchased by only me. Without the input of any other monsters.”

Papyrus’ denial-filled rambling was lost to you as you read the attached card.

“Special someone?” you enquired, chuckling.

“Yes.” The faint blush that had gathered on his face during his explanation that neither of you had noticed quickly disappeared. “Freeing an entire civilisation is quite a special feat, is it not? And you are a person, so you are someone. You are someone who is special. That is what a special someone is, correct?” He looked at you expectantly.

“...Yeah. Sure. Sorry, I should've gotten that straight away.” you answered, not bothered enough to correct him. You would let him believe that for now. “Seriously though Paps, wow! Thankyou! These are so nice!”

“ _Nice_?” He seemed almost offended at your choice of word.

“Well, yeah, no, nice is an understatement, for sure, sorry. God, they're beautiful! Thankyou so much!” You held the giant bunch of blooms in one arm as best you could and threw the other arm around the back of Papyrus’ neck, pulling him down and closer to yourself in an attempt to hug him.

He almost reciprocated the hug before pushing you away. Almost.

“Alright, that's enough.” He said after a few moments of possibly-desired hugs, avoiding eye contact as best he could and trying to turn and leave. “I have work to get back to. I can't spend all day fawning over flowers. It's not even like they're from me, anyway.”

“Ok then.” you responded with a smile. “I'll see you later then, I guess? And thankyou so much again for the flowers, Pap. They're amazing!”

“Yes, goodbye!” he said, waving vaguely in your direction, relieved to be turning and leaving and not having to look at you any more.

You saw him stomp halfway down your street before you finally closed the door.

Oh boy, where to put these, you wondered.

* * *

 

It went better than expected.

You hadn't interpreted them as romantic, which was good, because that was absolutely not the purpose, and you hadn't injected your high levels of sass and backchat into the conversation as you sometimes do, which was also good.

There wasn't work to get back to. He lied. It was one of those rare times when he just wanted to get home and pass out on the couch, which he actually did for once, simply exhausted after everything with the two humans he had spoken with today. It seemed comfier than usual now that he was so tired. Was this why Sans had chosen here specifically to take so many naps? Thinking for a minute, Papyrus felt like he understood a few things a lot more now, before blacking out.

He woke up in his racecar bed in the middle of the night, presumably having been moved there by his big brother.

He was thankful for that.

He recalled a dream from his sleep just now in which the moment of you hugging him earlier, holding the roses, repeated over and over. Sometimes you didn't have the roses and hugged Papyrus with both arms, sometimes he even hugged you back. Disgusting.

God, would his ridiculous brain just- “STOP IT!”

Oops. He hadn't meant to say anything out loud.

Sans appeared in his room in an instant.

“Hey, boss, Pap, bro, you ok?”

Papyrus sighed. “Yes, yes, just fine, brother. Carry on. Go back to sleep, or whatever.”

“You sure? You sounded pretty upset about something.”

“Yes. I am fine. Please, just go. I need to think on this.”

“Alright, bro. Well, uh, if you want to talk about whatever this is, you know where to find me.”

“...yes... Thankyou, Sans. Goodnight.”

“Night bro.” Sans answered, leaving the room by foot this time and closing the door behind him.

“AND THANKYOU FOR CARRYING ME HERE!” Papyrus called after him.

The faint sound of Sans’ low chuckle was the only response he heard.

Papyrus lay back again and pondered his dream a while longer. Surely it meant nothing. Right?

He was asleep again before he could decide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao  
> this chapter is dumb and I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you liked reading it!  
> tumblr's at lollyholly99 if you want to scream with/at me  
> fic priority question from last chapter still stands ^^
> 
> <3


	3. No Thanks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> papy is frustrate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is dumb but *shrug* I had some fun writing it and also it'll allow me to continue w/ ideas instead of being stuck here. c'mon brain let's move this plot along we've got folks waiting  
> enjoy the new chapter guys <3

Denial was only so strong and could only stretch so far. Even The Great and Terrible Papyrus’. But his resolve was not yet broken! He would still not give in to the thoughts that were ever more imminently trying to conquer his mind. No matter how often the awful (yet secretly somewhat enjoyable somewhere in the back of his mind) images of you and him together, acting as the couples he had seen in the past did appeared in his mind, he would not falter!

He absolutely would not!

He would not let himself fall prey to your possibly-unintentional charms!

He would not waver in the face of... your face! Your admittedly quite attractive face!

He would not give in to the... kindness and compassion only you could show...

The way you laughed...

Your body...

Your failure to treat him with the proper authority...

...Wait, wait! Yes, he couldn't possibly be “falling in love”! Your disregard for his position, your crudeness, your disrespect – they all frustrated him too much!

Even if he were interested in you, which he certainly was not in the slightest, how could a relationship between the two of you work, with your utter lack of respect?

Treating him as an equal, rather than acknowledging his authority.

...Oh, who was he kidding. No-one. Certainly not himself. Treating each other as equals – wasn't that something he had read in his dating manual? Better halves? Things along those lines. He would have to look over the book again for the first time in a long time.

Have to? Have to. Yes, have to, for his resolve was cracking, and perhaps (hopefully) a first date was in his future.

It was only a matter of time for the cracks to grow, and envelop Papyrus in their entirety. Too much time spent around you had broken him.

He liked you. More than a friend – or whatever you considered each other. And he was, at last, ready to admit it. Not to anyone else, heavens no, but to himself. He was accepting it. And yet, still pushing away. But differently now.

Instead of being angry, disgusted, insulted by the idea of you two together, now he was... slightly frightened.

He couldn't have his thoughts invaded by you! He was a busy skeleton! He had things to do! If all his time was taken up thinking about you, like he'd seen in the human novels and movies that had fallen into the dump down in the underground, how would he cope? Everything would be ruined! He absolutely could not let it happen! Wait...

...oh god, it was already happening.

At that realisation, Papyrus wanted to scream. 

It was another night that he lay awake in his race car bed, pondering his own feelings. And he did not want to wake Sans like that again, however much sleep the shorter skeleton would inevitably try to get (and succeed in getting) during the day.

But then again, Sans often screamed in the night, for reasons unknown to Papyrus, except one drearily mumbled mention of “Nightmare. Sorry, Boss.” long ago. Maybe he wouldn't question it if he was the one wailing for once?

Papyrus grabbed his pillow to muffle the sound, and let out a long, frustrated yell into it.

"Why?!" he cried out. "Damnit, why?!"

A moment later, a knock came at his door.

"Pap? You alright in there?"

He had woken Sans again.

"Yes, I'm fine, Sans. You can go back to sleep."

"Can I come in?"

Papyrus was slightly confused - was his brother really having less sleep of his own free will? "Okay?"

Sans opened the door and stepped in slowly, making his way over to the side of the bed. "You sure you're alright, bro?"

Papyrus sighed. "Just fine, brother."

"...Yeah, I don't believe you for a second."

"You don't?"

"You've done this twice, Paps."

"Um-"

"Twice."

"Done what?"

"Y'know, screaming like that in the middle of the night. It's not like you, Pap."

Papyrus had no response.

"Come on. What's up?" Sans asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

Papyrus hesitated. Then hesitated some more. Then he finally spoke.

"I... You know the human?"

"I've met several in my time here, bro. You gotta be a little more specific."

Papyrus groaned. "You know who I mean. Y/N."

"Yup, I'm familiar with 'em."

"Well..." He paused once more. "I think I may..." And again. "Ugh..." he groaned frustratedly, dropping his skull into his hands and rubbing his forehead.

He breathed deeply to prepare himself to speak again. "I think I may be romantically interested in the human." As soon as the words left him, his face began glowing red.

"...Huh. No kidding." Sans responded nonchalantly.

"I hate it."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, Sans!" Papyrus shouted, even more frustrated. "I can't have feelings like this! I can't think about a... a relationship! I have important things to do! I have a reputation to uphold!"

"Hm. Well, yeah, I guess you are pretty fond of that reputation of yours."

"I am a cool and tough skeleton who doesn't need anybody and I will not let anyone think otherwise!"

"Aw," whined Sans, jokingly. "You don't need anybody? Not even your big bro?"

"...No, I... That was wrong, I would very much prefer to have you in my life. And Undyne too, since she's my best friend and all."

"Heh, thought so. Anyways, let me give you some advice on this whole thing."

"Please, do."

Sans cleared his throat. "Well..."

"Well?" Papyrus urged, motioning for Sans to continue.

"I say you should just tell 'em."

"No." Papyrus responded immediately.

"I mean, who gives a shit? Nobody's gonna care that you've got a crush, Paps."

"No."

"May as well just come out with it."

"Why?!"

"I dunno, I guess I just feel like it might do you some good to stop pretending you ain't got any emotions besides angry."

Papyrus folded his arms and scowled, turning away from his brother.

"And," Sans continued, placing his hand on Papyrus' shoulder. "Because I want to see you happy, Papyrus."

The taller skeleton's face softened at that.

"Come on, you like Y/N, right? Your soul'll really appreciate it if you just go ahead and admit it. To yourself and to them."

"...But-"

"Look, Pap, things are different from before. You're not gonna get dusted for being close to someone."

Papyrus was silenced for a moment. Had... had Sans realised a truth of the matter that Papyrus had not? A subconscious reason for his desire to not fall for you?

"This is certainly unprecedented behaviour from you, Sans." he said, changing the topic as best he could.

"What, can a guy not help his brother out with his love life?"

"Well, no, it's not that, I just would've expected you to... I don't know, go back to sleep, or bombard my ears with your awful puns."

"We don't have ears, bro."

"You know what I mean!"

"Heh, whatever." Sans chuckled, standing back up and yawning. "Well, I'm gonna head back to bed. Looks like your suggestions got me all _bone tired_." he finished with a wink.

"Oh god, what have I done?"

Sans laughed harder as he made his way back to the door. "Night, Paps." he added, disappearing behind the door.

"Goodnight, Sans!" Papyrus responded.

"Oh, and one more thing," Sans said, opening the door again and popping his head round it.

Papyrus cocked his head in intrigue.

"If you don't tell them within the next couple of days, I might just tell 'em myself."

Sans was gone before Papyrus could respond in any way.

Papyrus lay awake for longer than he'd have liked after that, both comforted by the talk with his brother and fearful of that last comment.

Tomorrow was a day for thinking. Perhaps planning. Maybe action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *tears streaming down my face* god lemme tell u guys I just.... love big bro Sans............. even big bro Fell Sans... so good.................
> 
> yeah this is dumb like hella dumb ok bye it's getting late and I have school tomorrow *cries*
> 
> anyways if you wanna fite me or scream at me about my fics feel free to hmu at my tumblr at lollyholly99.tumblr.com
> 
> (oh and hey halfway through finishing this off my brain was like "yo I have the best idea for a fic" and then I had 2 word documents open and long story short SWEET CHRIST LOLLY IS WRITING A FIC THAT IS NOT A SKELETON/READER FIC. although it does feature skeletons. baby steps, friends.)


	4. Action time(?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie night \o/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *emerges from a cave, blinded by sunlight*  
> yo sorry I haven't posted a dang thing in 5ever   
> I've been like. waaaaaay uninspired and unmotivated w/ writing for a while bUT TONIGHT I WAS FEELIN IT  
> hope this dumb chapter makes up 4 it <3

Papyrus paced about his room, stroking his chin, deep in thought.

How in god's name was he supposed to confess anything to you? He needed solutions, and fast - though, none were coming to mind.

Yes, it would be simple to just sit back and allow Sans to take care of it, as he'd warned, but Papyrus had a strong feeling that his brother would manage to screw it up somehow.

...But then again, that could be good! Right? If Sans managed to turn you away, even if accidentally, then Papyrus might be able to relax! Without any sort of chance with you, he'd have no reasoning to continue pursuing a relationship!

On the other hand, it could exaserbate his already troubled mind, thinking about other possibilities that could've been realised had Papyrus told you himself how he felt.

Damnit.

Maybe he could make it quick, get it out of the way, be done with it in a second. Yes, that could work! And how simple it would be! A few mere seconds and his worries would be over! Or perhaps he could be subtle, and make his feelings known over some period of time... no, not that - he could end up taking too long, and hell if he was letting Sans do it for him.

After a few more minutes of thinking, he decided he would do it fast. And soon. Today, even! Who knows what Sans meant by "the next few days"? Better not to risk it.

* * *

[HUMAN!]

[Y/N!*]

You recieved 2 texts from Papyrus, the second almost immediately after the first, which woke you up from your long lie-in that morning. When your sleepy brain finally registered the texts, you responded.

{what's up?}

* * *

Papyrus jumped for his phone when it finally lit up with your response, then texted back.

[YOU WILL COME TO MY HOUSE THIS AFTERNOON.]

[WE'RE WATCHING A MOVIE.]

He paused for a moment before sending another message.

[PLEASE.]

* * *

You blinked at the message before you.

When you at last got over the surprise of Papyrus suggesting you hang out, you tapped in a response.

{lmao for real?}

Papyrus got back to you almost instantly.

[FOR REAL.]

{what, is this gonna be like a date or something?}

You chuckled as you sent that one, knowing it would get under his skin for sure. Except he doesn't have skin, he's a skeleton. Maybe it'll... rattle his bones? Yeah. There we go.

* * *

And rattle his bones it did, his cheekbones beginning to glow bright red upon reading it.

[NO. DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!]

{then what's the movie for, paps?}

[THERE IS NO NEED TO QUESTION MY INTENTIONS, Y/N.]

{you can't stop me B) }

[WHATEVER.]

[WILL YOU COME ALONG?]

{maybe if you turn off the caps lock lmao}

[Please?]

{yeah, sure, I'm not doing anything later.}

[Good. I will see you at 5 o'clock.]

{alrighty, it's a date}

{see ya then, skeleman ;) hehehe}

[IT'S NOT A DATE!]

{it's just a saying, numbskull}

[Oh. Well then, I shall speak with you later.]

Papyrus fell back onto his bed after hitting send, calming himself after the ordeal that was step 1 of his plan.

* * *

5pm rolled around a lot quicker than Papyrus expected, and his soul practically jumped in his ribcage when you rang the doorbell.

"Huh. Wonder who that is." Sans piped up from his chair in the quiet living room, his gaze unmoving from his joke book.

Papyrus ran in from the kitchen. "Oh! It's Y/N!"

"Y/N?" Sans questioned.

"Yes, you dolt! Don't you remember me telling you they'd be coming over?"

"I mean, I guess. What, has my little bro got a date?"

"Y-...no! Shut up, Sans! And don't screw this up for me!"

Papyrus opened the door at last, greeting you with some sort of a smile.

"You're here!"

"Someone's sure enthusiastic to see me." you chuckled. "Yup, I sure am here!"

His face immediately fell at your comment. "Shut up and let me invite you into my home."

He led you through to the living room, and motioned for you to take a seat on the couch, which you did.

"I will return with snacks for the movie in but a moment. I do presume you would want some, yes?"

"Yeah, sounds goo-" you began, but he had left to go to the kitchen before you could finish speaking.

"Classic Paps." Sans muttered.

"Too right."

You heard Papyrus start the microwave, and a few moments later, the clear sound of popcorn popping began.

Suddenly, Sans' eyes lit up, and a mischevious smirk appeared on his face. He gently placed down his book, and looked to the kitchen door before looking back at you.

"Hey, speakin' of my bro..." He leaned forward, shooting a quick look towards the kitchen door once again. "...he's got himself a little secret."

"Oh?" You lay your head in your hands, mirroring Sans' grin. "Do tell."

"Well, I dunno about that," Sans shrugged. "I mean, I'm not sure you'll be able to keep it."

His smile only grew, so you prodded further. This had to be good.

"Come on, Sans, you can't just say something like that and not tell me. Spill the beans, dude."

"Hmmmm...." he closed his eyes, and stroked his chin, feigning deep thought. "Alrighty then."

He leaned forward in his seat. "So get this. Papyrus, yeah? He's got a-"

Papyrus appeared almost out of nowhere, grabbing Sans out of his seat and covering his mouth with a gloved hand.

"A FINE COLLECTION OF 'ACTION FIGURES' ACQUIRED FOR USE IN FORMING BATTLE STRATEGIES YES SANS THAT IS CORRECT NOW STOP THAT."

He then dropped his brother back into the chair, breathing a sigh of relief and heading back to the kitchen to watch the popcorn.

"Is that so?" you enquired.

Sans chuckled. "Heh, yep. That's the secret. Can you believe it?"

"Wow, I never would have guessed." You rolled your eyes. "But seriously, what's the secret?"

"Well, I-"

"SANS, WOULD YOU PLEASE JOIN ME IN HERE? I REQUIRE SOME HELP." Papyrus hurriedly shouted again.

"Looks like I'm needed." Sans shrugged, walking through to see Papyrus.

You were left alone, trying to listen out for any conversation, nosy as you were, but failing due to the now-closed door and then giving up.

"You called?" Sans asked as he entered, still sporting the same grin.

"Sans, I'm telling you, do not screw this up for me!"

"What, I can't have a bit of fun with this thing?"

Papyrus glared at his brother, simultaneously warning Sans and pleading with him.

"...Fine." Sans sighed.

"Good. Now, if you could leave the house that would be very much appreciated." Papyrus responded, folding his arms.

"What, you want me gone so you can get on with your date in peace?"

"And?! So what if I want to not be bothered during our very much not-date?!"

"More like hot-date, right?"

"GO HANG OUT WITH THAT FIRE BARTENDER YOU LIKE SO MUCH, YOU DOLT!"

"Wow, never thought you'd be telling me to go to Grillby's."

"Yes, well today is different to other days! Now just go before Y/N gets suspicious!"

"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha, Paps. Later bro."

And with one final smirk, the shorter skeleton had teleported from the house.

A few moments later, the popcorn was ready, and Papyrus brought it back through to the living room and sat down on the couch with you, placing the bowl between the two of you.

"So, what are we watching? And, uh... hey, where'd Sans go?"

"He left. Didn't feel like sticking around for the movie. As for said movie, well..." He picked up a DVD case from the table to show you. "A friend of ours, Alphys, recommended - insisted, really, that we watch this one."

Some anime movie you didn't know. Alright.

"Will this be adequate?"

"Yeah, sure. Looks kinda interesting." you answered, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

"Good! Then let's begin."

He started up the movie, and sat back down with you.

The plan was going well.

* * *

Over the course of the movie, you moved around to get comfortable several times. One specific time, you lay lengthways across the couch, legs over the arm, leaning on Papyrus.

This was apparently the most comfortable position, as you soon fell asleep there.

Papyrus' cheekbones flushed red at the realisation that you were asleep. He sat in his spot on the couch, stiff as a board, not daring to move for fear of waking you.

You were, admittedly, somewhat... cute... as you slept.

He didn't bother paying attention to the movie anymore, just the rise and fall of your chest as you breathed in and out, and the serene look on your face.

A thought came to mind of him waking up to this sight. In his bed. He failed to fully shake it from his mind. Good god, he had to tell you how he felt soon or it was going to kill him.

Eventually, you woke up - just before the credits for the movie began to roll.

"Oh, did I doze off?" you said groggily, rubbing your eyes and sitting back up. "Damn. How much of the movie did I miss?"

"Quite a bit." Papyrus answered, not meeting your gaze.

"Last I remember happening was the thing with that one guy with the weird hair... hey, did he get to do the whole magic thing he was trying to do?"

"I can't say I know."

"Huh? Why not? You forgotten?"

"No! My memory is perfectly fine! I just-!"

Papyrus paused for a moment, almost stuck. Then an idea appeared to him.

"I just fell asleep as well! I have been working quite hard lately, it's not unthinkable that I could succumb to exhaustion, despite my greatness!"

"Yeah, I guess. Movie wasn't all too exciting either." You stretched. "Well, this was a pretty fun nap hangout thing, I guess. Thanks for inviting me over, Pap."

"Yes, indeed it was! Why wouldn't it be, it was my idea!"

It suddenly hit him that he was running out of time, and his plan would soon go to waste if not acted upon.

"Too right." you chuckled, getting up from your seat and motioning towards the front door. "Well, I guess I should probably get goi-"

"WAIT!" he suddenly shouted, silently cursing his impulses.

"Uh..." you stared confusedly at him. "What's up?"

Mistakes had been made.

"I... I need to tell you something..." He was blushing. He could feel it. He hated it.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I... I just..."

You nodded at him, motioning for him to continue.

"I... I...."

Silence.

"...I-I want you out of my house."

...That was it?

You were utterly confused. "What? I mean, I was just leaving, so-"

"Hangout time is over, time to go, this was enjoyable, thankyou very much!" he said, practically shoving you out the door. "Goodbye!"

Before you could even comprehend what was happening, the door was shut behind you. You could've sworn you heard a very Papyrus-like groan of frustration as you began walking away from the house.

* * *

Papyrus leaned against the door and slid down it, burying his face in his hands.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." he repeated to himself.

"So, how'd the date go?" came Sans' voice from up on the stairs. Sans leaned on the railing to look over at his brother.

"Horribly! Nothing went to plan!" Papyrus yelled.

"Yeah, didn't seem too good just then. 'I want you outta my house', huh?"

"Oh, shush!" Papyrus did a double take. "Hold on a second, how long have you been back?!"

"Just a minute or two. Got bored at Grillby's. Came back here." Sans came down the stairs to stand by Papyrus. "Anyways, what was up with that? Why didn't you tell 'em?"

"I don't know! I'm the Great and Terrible Papyrus, I should be capable of anything! Why can't I just say words?!"

"You'll do it, bro. I know you will. Tomorrow, I'm sure if you try again you'll be able to do it." he said, patting Papyrus' head.

"I mean, you don't want me to go ahead and say it to them, do ya?"

Sans flashed a grin at Papyrus and chuckled before teleporting up to his room.

Papyrus' eyesockets blew wide open. Tomorrow?!

Planning time. Again. Extreme planning time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooooooooooo congrats Papy ya did it. ya dun did it. and by it I mean nothing. well done.
> 
> apologies again both for the chapter and the wait for the chapter lmao
> 
> anyways I've finally decided how I want the rest of this fic to go so maybe I'll get some more writing done soon yaaaaaaaaaaay
> 
> screm w/ me at my tumblr @ lollyholly99.tumblr.com


	5. Action Time(!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus struggles. And does things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *vibrates* I frickin. wrote most of this chapter in bed and it took ages and I was like "man this has gotta be so long I'm so proud" well spoiler alert past lolly the word count doesn't quite go up into the many thousands like you thought  
> anyways I hope this short lil bab of a chapter suffices hehehe  
> <3

To say Papyrus was nervous was an understatement. Like hell he'd admit it, though.

There he sat, cross-legged on his bed, glaring at the phone in front of him, and unusually for him, trying to work up the courage to do something. His chin rested in his hands, and he was sweating considerably - even though his brother was more the one prone to the latter.

He had less than 24 hours to do something about his... ugh, feelings... and it wasn't getting any easier.

"Aaaaaagh!" he growled, dropping his face into his gloved hands.

He jumped up and paced about his room, deep in thought, putting off doing anything until maybe, just maybe, he came up with something perfect. Something perfect and easy. Unfortunately, no ideas along these lines ever came.

"Oh, screw it!" he yelled at last, diving for his phone and beginning a new message to you. Something not so perfect and not so easy it would be, then.

[Y/N! You will meet me at th]

...no, he shouldn't send that. Backspace.

[Y/N! I would very much appreciate it if you met me at 1pm at the coffee shop downtown!]

Well, it was the best message he was going to get out. Now he just had to send it.

...Yes, just send it...

...hit...send...just one button.

"Sans! I require some assistance!"

His brother was there in seconds. "What's the problem, bro? Get into another internet argument? Some assholes bein’ assholes again?”

“Yes, but that’s an issue for another time!”

“Well then what do you need?”

“I need you to press send on this text for me!”

Sans was confused, to say the least. “What, the Great and Terrible Papyrus lost his fingers or something?”

“No! I just-! I can’t seem to be able to bring myself to doing it!”

“Why not?”

“Just come help me with this, damnit!”

Sans sauntered over to the bed, looking curiously at Papyrus’ phone. “Yeah, alright, what’s it say?”

“None of your business, Sans! Just send it!”

He looked down at the text, casually scratching his chin “’I would very mu-‘”

“Just press send before I change my mind about the whole thing!”

Sans, at last, pressed the send button. "Can't have you making me do all the work in this, now can we?" he asked, smirking.

Papyrus shrieked internally, his non-existent stomach turning. He stared silently at the screen, his eye sockets wide.

“Heh. You’re welcome, bro.” said Sans, leaving the room.

Papyrus didn’t respond, the realisation of what was going to happen having hit him.

Eventually you responded.

{yeah, sure. you feeling alright? you sound a little off today}

[Yes! I am perfectly fine! I simply ~~need to tell you~~   ~~need to talk about something wi~~   ~~want to see y~~   request your presence for a very important meeting!]

{alrighty. see ya there!}

Papyrus collapsed on his bed.

1pm couldn’t come soon enough. And at the same time, he wished it would never come. 

* * *

He sat at the most prominent table in the coffee shop, so as to, in a way, assert his dominance over the random people around him. It also happened to be the furthest away from all of said random people, which was preferable for multiple reasons.

1:03. You were late. He would have to scold you for this when you arrived.

Well, he would have, had the notion not disappeared from his mind when you entered. You were dressed nice today... Ugh, why was that his first thought upon seeing you? Awful. Focus, Papyrus!

“Hey,” you piped up as you reached the table and took your seat. “Sorry I’m a little late. I know you’re a bit of a stickler for timing, especially when it’s, um, ‘important’ like this.”

“Y-yes. Quite.” Papyrus silently hoped you didn’t catch him stuttering, which you apparently didn’t, as you didn’t mention it.

“So, uh, what’s up?”

“I... Have been meaning to say something.”

“And what might that something be?” you asked, resting your head in your hands.

“Well, I-“

“Oh! Sorry, one sec, I’m gonna get myself a drink. Be right back.” You practically jumped up out of your seat and went up to the counter, speeding off before Papyrus could respond. So he sat patiently, waiting for your return, waiting to tell you what he needed to, waiting to get it over with, anxiously tapping his fingers on the table. Good god, was this whole thing painful.

You soon came back, to-go cup in hand, once again taking your seat at the table. “Sorry about that. What were you saying?”

“Well,” Papyrus paused, clearing his throat. Or looking and sounding as though he was clearing his throat. You had trouble telling what goes on with magical skeleton anatomy. “I wanted to tell you...”

He chided himself for hesitating. Don’t chicken out. Not you, not now, not ever, Papyrus. Don’t even think about it.

“Yeeees?” you said, motioning for him to continue.

Don’t chicken out.

“...that what I said last night was a mistake and I apologise for my lack of proper hospitality.”

Goddamnit. You gave yourself one job, Papyrus.

“Aw, well, thanks, Pap. I forgive you.” You giggled. Cutely. Damnit. “Never thought I’d hear an apology from you for anything, if I’m honest.”

“Yes, well-! Sans is making me say this!” Papyrus crossed his arms defiantly.

“He’s not, is he?” you asked, a knowing look on your face.

“...no, he’s not.” Papyrus finally admitted.

“Thought not.” you retorted, taking a sip of your drink. You nearly choked looking back up at the skeleton before you. “Holy shit dude, are you blushing? That’s adorable!”

Papyrus’ eyesockets widened. He looked over at the slightly reflective glass next to him and sure enough, his face was turning tomato red. Even redder at that "adorable" comment.

“T-the Great and Terrible Papyrus is not adorable!” he said, doing his best to cover his cheek bones.

“I beg to differ. Man, that’s so cool! I’ve never seen you do that before! I didn’t even know magical skeletons _could_ blush!”

“Yes, well now you know! Whatever!”

You giggled again. “Yeah, whatever, I guess. Still, pretty cute that you're all embarrassed about apologising and everything.”

“What. Ever!” was his only retort.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways,” you continued, standing up. “If that's all you wanted to tell me, I’m gonna get going.”

“Yes. You should do that. Goodbye!” Papyrus replied, crossing his arms again, prouder this time.

“Heh, yeah. See ya later, Paps!”

And then you turned and left. Good riddance. Maybe.

...

It took a whole 45 seconds after the door had closed itself behind you that Papyrus realised he’d screwed up.

A voice in his head bellowed. What in the world are you doing?? You’re running out of time!! You can’t let Sans fuck this up later on!!

Papyrus launched himself from his seat, running out of the coffee shop, chasing after you, who, despite the short amount of time, had put considerable distance between yourself and said coffee shop. 

He stopped behind you when you had stopped to check your pockets for something. 

“Y-Y/N,” 

You almost jumped right out of your skin, before turning around and realising who had spoken to you. 

“Christ, Pap, a little warning before you do that to someone, eh? Whatever. What’s up?” 

“I... I must apologise again. I was not entirely truthful in saying I was done with what I needed to say.” Papyrus confessed, wringing his hands. 

“Yeah? There’s more you gotta tell me?” 

He nodded. 

You folded your arms, ready to listen. “Alright. Spill.” 

He took a deep breath. 

“Human. Y/N. I...” 

He paused, staring at the floor. At last, he shut his eyes tight and came out with it. 

 

“...I...I like you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gasp!!!!! \o/ congrats papaya  
> if I were reading this I'd probably stab myself for a cliffhanger like that  
> I guess maybe the reason this one is accidentally so short is bc I was rushing to that sick rad confession? probably? whatever I haven't got anything decent to add to it so it's a smol
> 
> also - hc: instead of how in regular undertale, Sans sends bad puns to Paps anonymously online, with the underfell bros Sans anonymously says blatantly wrong shit and Papyrus angrily corrects him and Sans retorts with more dumb garbage and Papy gets real mad and gets into a big ol' argument w/ this "stranger". god bless these skeletons
> 
> also again: the "get your sibling to press send" scene is taken from me and my sister irl. we're too chicken to say words to people so it helps.
> 
> also also: would y'all prefer if I did the skeles' dialogue in all caps and no caps rather than like regular speech like I currently do? can't remember if I asked anyone this but I had a moment just now of "am I confusing people oh god". like I started writing this way bc reasons but should I stick with it? vote now on your phones. I'm gonna stop these notes before they become longer than the actual chapter again lmao. bye bye
> 
> hmu at lollyholly99.tumblr.com


	6. Results

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What, oh what, will you say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sure took me long enough to write this hhhhhhhhhhhhh  
> motivation levels are Low As Heck (particularly with this fic for some reason? shruggo)  
> anyways here u go after..... some time. enjoy *jazz hands*

Papyrus' gaze stayed fixed on the floor for a good few moments, his face burning bright red. He waited with bated breath for some response from you. And at last, you spoke.

"Uh... ok? It's a big step up from 'tolerate' I guess. Thanks, uh... good to know?"

"UUGHHH!" he groaned. How could you be so dense??? "How can you misunderstand that?! I mean...!"

The words got caught in his throat, and his anger slightly subsided, replaced with an extremely unfamiliar timidness.

"You mean?" you questioned.

"I mean romantically, you utter dolt!"

There was silence for a moment before you responded.

"Oh. Uh. Ok."

Silence once more.

"So, uh, when'd this start?"

"Recently." he growled. Still red.

"...Why?"

"I don't know! But what I do know is that I hate it!"

"Ok then."

Again, moments of silence.

"So do you want to date or not?!" Papyrus asked frustratedly, stomping his foot.

"You want to?"

"Preferably, yes." he replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Um... alrighty..." You paused, thinking. "Yeah, sure. Let's do this. I've gotta admit, you are kinda cute."

Papyrus' soul skipped a beat. "R-really?!" Then your words hit him. "Wait, wait, cute?! I-I..."

"Yup." You giggled. "Let's see how well you can charm me, Mr. Skeleman."

He managed to refrain from telling you not to call him that, too caught up in the moment to dwell on it. Instead, he stood up straight, fighting his shaking bones to look confident again, and cleared his throat. "W-well then! This is... a pleasant development!"

"Sure is."  
Papyrus suddenly looked very unsure of himself, and of what to do next, and you noticed, placing a hand on his shoulder (as best you could, considering his height). 

"Hey, wanna go for a walk around the park or something? Hang out, chat, whatever?"

You didn't miss the way his face lit up for the quickest of moments before he scowled at you again. "Hmm, yes, ok, fine! But know that I'm giving up my valulable time for this!"

"Alrighty! First date it is then. Let's go!" you responded, beginning your walk. Papyrus, however, was slow to follow.

"I... date?! First date?!"

"Yeah! Why not?"

"I... we... we haven't even- we haven't made any plans, o-or even-!" Papyrus stuttered, looking around hesitantly.

"What, is The Great and Terrible Papyrus not up to it?"

He stood up straight, visibly offended by the question. "No! Of course I am!" he huffed, folding his arms. "I'm the best at dating! I'm going to be the best boyfriend!"

" _Oh yeah_?"

"Um, yes?! Why do you question me?"

"Heh, okay."

The two of you began walking, and, completely unexpectedly to Papyrus, you took his hand in your own. You started making conversation, but he failed to listen properly, too caught up in his shock.

"...and then... uh, Papyrus?"

He suddenly noticed you looking over at him in concern, then giggling at the burning glow on his cheek bones and the way his gaze hadn't moved from your connected hands.

"Earth to skeleton?"

Papyrus jolted to attention at last, looking like a deer in the headlights. "W-what?"

You shook your head, smiling. "Never mind."

* * *

The two of you ended up spending an entire hour together before you noticed how exhausted Papyrus was from trying (and failing) to keep his cool, at which point you offered to walk him home. To which he very politely declined.

"Um? You think I'd take you up on an offer like _that_?" Papyrus scoffed. "As I am your brilliant, _muscular_ , b _o_ yfr _ien_ d," You certainly noticed how his voice wavered slightly on the word "boyfriend", "do you not think _I_ should be walking _you_ home? For your protection?"

You shrugged, chuckling. "Whatever floats your boat, Paps. I mean, my place is further than yours, but sure."

He stuttered out some excuses before shutting himself up about the topic, and you walked in comfortable silence. Or... slightly flustered silence, in Papyrus' case.

Eventually you reached the skeletons' home... and walked right past it, to head to yours.

When you got to your front door, Papyrus seemed to have forgotten that your hands were two separate entities.

"Uh, Paps?"

"Hm?" he responded, jumping to attention.

You motioned towards your joined hands. "Kinda need that back to open the door, dude."

He let go of your hand like it were suddenly scorching hot and clutched his own to his chest. "M-my apologies."

You got the door open and stepped inside, then turned back to the skeleton. "Well. This was pretty fun!"

"Um... yes! I suppose it was."

He paused.

"So, Y/N... I'll... see you tomorrow?"

"Yup! See ya then!" you answered, beginning to close the door.

Papyrus didn't expect that you would momentarily open it again, nor did he expect that you would wink at him.

"See ya then, _babe_."

You chuckled, watching Papyrus jolt in surprise and stutter for a good few seconds before clicking the door shut again.

Papyrus ended up stomping home with his scarf pulled up over his cheekbones.

* * *

Sans was lying on the couch when his brother got home, watching a re-run of some human sitcom.

"Yo, Paps, how'd it go?" he asked, craning his neck to see the blushing skeleton.

Papyrus only slammed the door shut in response, and Sans winced.

"Geez, that bad, huh?"

"No!" Papyrus replied, folding his arms. "It actually went... far better than expected."

"No kidding? Nice." Sans turned his gaze back towards the TV. "What happened, did ya smooch 'em? That why you've got your scarf covering up your face like that? Tryin' to hide it from your big bro?"

The taller skeleton groaned, climbing the stairs and then shutting himself away in his room.

Sans put the TV on mute and listened carefully, hearing the sound of Papyrus' bed shifting as he threw himself onto it and subsequently his muffled shouts into his pillow.

...Well, Sans could tell he wasn't actually upset, just aggravated in a... Papyrus way. Seemed alright to leave him be for now. That was probably the best option.

* * *

3AM. Someone was knocking at the front door at 3 goddamn AM. Although, it was less "knocking", and more "hitting the door so hard their fist is about to break through it".

Sans groaned as he got up from the comfortable spot he had been sleeping in on the couch and trudged over to the door to open it.

The culprit of the door-based ruckus had been Undyne. That explained it.

"Pap! I came as fast as I-" Her gaze dropped to where Sans was. "...You're not Papyrus."

"Sure ain't. But like Paps is, I _was_ sleeping, since it's, y'know, three in the damn morning."

"Shut up, Sans. Where's your brother? He needed me to come over." she said, looking around past the skeleton before her.

Sans stepped out of the way and motioned towards the stairs before walking off to go sleep on the couch again. "Look for the room with "Papyrus Allowed" on the door."

Undyne bounded up the stairs, two at a time, causing a loud bang with each step that made Sans jolt. She threw open Papyrus' door with little regard for anything, and found her friend sitting on his bed, legs crossed, pillow clutched to his chest .

"Alright Papyrus, I'm here to help!"

"Oh, thank goodness." sighed the skeleton.

"Now," Undyne said, sitting down next to Papyrus, mirroring his crossed legs. "What did you need from me?"

"...You have a girlfriend, right?"

She stared back in confusion, having expected him to... ask her to dust somebody, or... give him an emergency cooking lesson, or an emergency training session or something. "Uh, yeah?"

"Yes, well, with that in mind, I thought, perhaps, you might be the person to ask about this? My dating manual is less than exceptionally helpful at the moment." He grabbed the book from the spot on the bed next to him and threw it into the corner of the room.

"You woke me up at 3AM for dating advice?"

"I couldn't sleep!"

"Alright, fine. What is it you need to know?"

"...I was wondering... How would I go about, um... wooing my new datemate?"

"Datemate?!"

"Y-yes, datemate, but Undyne, please-"

"Man, why didn't you tell me?! Who's the lucky nerd?"

"Y/N, but that's n-"

"The human? Wow, Pap, what a catch!" Undyne said, playfully elbowing Papyrus.

"Yes, ok, whatever, just... what do I do?"

"Alright, Papyrus," She threw an arm around Papyrus' neck. "Here's what you gotta do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> undyne calm down you'll frighten the poor boy. he doesn't know ~feelings~.
> 
> wooooooo so anyways I think I'm kind of having less fun w/ this fic than I used to? or maybe it's just my struggles with this chapter mixed with my lil fear about my slight lack of ideas  
> so just as a heads up - this fic'll probably either go silent for a w h i l e or might have only a handful of lil chapters and end maybe a bit abruptly  
> on the bright side I can move on to newer, bigger, brighter skeleton prospects with minimal guilt! hells yeah  
> <3
> 
> complain at me on tumblr at lollyholly99.tumblr.com


	7. In Which Cliches Are All Undyne Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne didn't just give advice, she helped Papyrus plan a whole date! Wow!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dumb bad chapter is dumb and bad bluuhhhhhhh  
> but at least it's longer than my usual writins haha  
> love y'all hope u enjoy <3

[HELLO, "HOT STUFF".]

You couldn't restrain your laughter when you received the text from Papyrus, unbeknownst to your new boyfriend from where he sat on his couch.

{Hot stuff?}

{And you're going back to the all caps thing? alrighty then lmao}

[UGH, NEVER MIND THEN]

[AND DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE CAPITAL LETTERS. THEY REMIND PEOPLE THAT I AM A SKELETON TO BE FEARED. AND RESPECTED.]

{Yeah okie dokie}

{just reminds me how loud you are tbh}

{So what did you want?}

[I WISH TO INVITE YOU ON A DATE.]

[A PROPER ONE.]

{Yeah, sure! I'm down}

[ARE YOU FREE AT 7PM TONIGHT?]

{Kinda short notice, but yeah, I'm not doing anything then}

[SPLENDID. I WILL PICK YOU UP AT THAT TIME.]

{Do I gotta wear anything fancy or is this just cas?}

[JUST DRESS BETTER THAN MY BROTHER AND YOU'LL BE FINE.]

{That's a pretty low standard}

{Cool cool tho}

{See you at 7 then cutie <3}

Papyrus flinched upon reading the last text. A heart? 'Cutie'?? Oh _gosh_.

[YES, I WILL SEE YOU THEN.]

He paused for a moment.

[<3]

{Aww}

{Heh, later, Papy}

Papy???

{You cool w/ me calling you Papy? I thought it sounded cute haha}

Papyrus hesitated once more.

[I WILL ALLOW IT.]

He obliged, despite the apparent 'cuteness'. After all, nicknames were a thing in dating, right?

{Nice. See ya!}

[GOODBYE, Y/N.]

Papyrus breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone fairly well.

...So now what?

Well, there wasn't much he could do until the time rolled around. Except wait.

* * *

6.15.

Papyrus sighed as he looked himself over in his mirror, lamenting the lack of his normal date outfit for, well, **a date**. But Undyne had instructed him not to wear it, in favour of something, anything else from his wardrobe, c'mon, Papyrus, you gotta admit, that outfit's not gonna impress your new datemate at all, I mean the shorts and the baseball cap, you've got way better clothes in your closet!

So he was now looking himself up and down, taking in the sight of his 'improved' outfit for the upcoming date. A t-shirt with a skull - a cool skull, of course, but naturally, not nearly as cool as him - and a leather jacket and tight black jeans. He supposed it was a decent alternative. At least Undyne had allowed him to wear his scarf.

He looked over Undyne's notes for him one more time. Yup. Mhm. He's got this.

...Did he?

Pfft, of course. As if he could screw this up.

As.

If.

* * *

6.25.

Everything was ruined.

Dinner and a movie. It was a simple plan. The simplest plan. A genius plan from his best friend. Take the human to the revamped MTT Restaurant for a meal and then take them to the cinema and then follow whatever advice Undyne had given under the folded up "SUPER SECRET Y/N-WOOING TACTICS" section in her notes. Endlessly easy.

And yet he'd forgotten to make the reservations for the restaurant.

Papyrus was just about ready to scream. He was usually such an organised skeleton! How come this one simple thing had escaped him??

Sure, the human had made friends with Mettaton, it wasn't like it'd be impossible to get into the fairly popular restaurant, but Papyrus couldn't just use his new datemate's influence to get them in. "Oh, human, I'm ever so sorry, it slipped my stupid mind that I should fix a whole 50% of our plans for the evening, mind asking the owner of the place to let us in for me? Thanks." Yeah, no.

He groaned, throwing his hands to his face and falling back onto his bed.

"Of all the things!"

* * *

6.50.

Papyrus forced himself out of the front door, not willing to admit his major screw-up to you but even less willing to give up on the date.

With a sigh, he climbed into his car and headed off to your place. For the duration of the drive, he berated himself for the slip-up and pondered his options. Before he knew it, he was at your front door. 7.00 on the dot. He knocked, and sighed a deep sigh.

"Coming! Just gimme a second!" came your voice from inside.

He could back out. Screw not giving up, it was still an option, rearranging was a thing, he could expl-

"Papyrus! Hey! You're here!"

His mind went blank, as did his face, when he saw you standing in your doorway, closing your door behind you.

"Um... Yes. Hello, Y/N." he eventually managed to say, blushing and avoiding any eye contact.

Gosh, you looked especially nice tonight.

"So, what're the plans for tonight, Papy?" you asked, smiling up at the skeleton.

...Welp.

"Well, I..." he hesitated, adjusting his scarf in his nervousness. "I'm afraid I must admit that, in a tremendously rare display of inattentiveness on my part, I have... um... botched our dinner plans..."

"Oh? Well, that's ok! We can find somewhere else to eat, right? How about..." You paused for a moment to think. "Ooh, y'know what? I could go for some McDonald's right now! You down for that?"

...That was certainly a help.

"Um, yes! That's exactly what I was going to suggest!"

"Nice. Alrighty then," You looped your arm around Papyrus', leaning into him. "Shall we?"

He was surprised at the sudden closeness, but shook his head and stood straight again, leading you to his car.

You hopped in the car beside him, and a few moments later the two of you were speeding off for some grub.

* * *

"Man, who brings their tiny kids to Mcdonald's this late on a school night?" you wondered out loud to Papyrus, leaning closer to him to be heard over said children yelling and smacking the table.

Papyrus sighed in frustration. "This is just becoming more and more of a disaster as time goes on."

"Hey, it's alright." you said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I mean, I'm having fun."

At that moment, one of the loud children at the nearby table let out an unexpected, very unnecessary scream, the younger one next to them copying them.

"...Mostly." you added, chuckling.

Papyrus groaned. "'Mostly' isn't good enough! We were supposed to have a completely enjoyable evening!"

"Aww, c'mon, it's not like it's the end of the world."

You paused, watching the skeleton sulk for a moment, until one of the kids started crying.

"Hey, Papy?" you asked, looking out into the car park.

Papyrus' head perked up a little. "Hmm?"

"Wanna go eat in the car instead?"

He nodded, gathering up his things and standing up. You followed in suit, and the two of you headed out to his car. Having climbed on in, you began munching at your food, and Papyrus, slumped in the driver's seat, mostly ignored his fries.

It seemed, in his moment of trying to make the date go smoother after his screw-up, he'd forgotten how much he disliked fast food. Greasy, salty, unhealthy-

Papyrus' train of thought was interrupted at the feeling of something prodding at his teeth. A french fry, apparently. His gaze traveled down the fry until it reached your hand.

"Say 'aah'~" you giggled.

He looked down at the french fry, then at you, then back to the fry, and his disoriented, blank face switched to a frown. He tutted and folded his arms, but reluctantly opened his mouth nevertheless for you to place the fry inside.

As he chomped down on it, he couldn't help but want to... smile along with you? Weird.

You did that a few times during the meal, in between bites of your own food and during the lulls in the mundane conversation you two exchanged. You even convinced him to do the same with you and your fries.

Soon enough, you'd both finished. You sat and slurped at the last dregs of your drink, turning to Papyrus.

"So, you said earlier that your plans got screwed up? What did you have planned for dinner initially?"

You just had to ask, didn't you?

"Well..." he said, hesitant. "I... was going to take you tothe MTT restaurant. However, I somehow managed to forget to make the reservations, and by the time I realised, it was far too late... and so I ended up having to take you to this... clown-themed fast food restaurant."

"Oh, Mettaton's place?" you responded, playing with the straw in your cup and ignoring Papyrus' frown. "Eh, I'm not super into that place anyways. People like to crows around me whenever I'm there when they realise I know the owner. This is way better."

"Really?" Papyrus asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah! It's chill in here. And it was nice to just eat alone, not have anyone around, y'know? Just the two of us."

"Um... yes. I suppose it is quite nice." he responded. You weren't disappointed. That was good.

"So, anything else on the itinerary?"

"Oh, well... I planned for us to perhaps... see a movie after this?"

You nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good!" Leaning out of your window, you reeled your arm back and threw your cup at the nearby bin, getting it in perfectly, somewhat impressing Papyrus with your fear of acuracy. Huh. you had more positive traits than he thought.

You gave a small whoop at the throw and looked back at him. "Did you see that?"

"Yes, I did. Very well done." he said, smirking a little.

"Heh, thanks, Papy."

"So, um, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's do this." You responded. And then you were off.

* * *

After standing in the foyer by the new releases board for a good ten minutes politely arguing over who should pick the movie ("I mean, I don't really mind, Pap, you can pick." "No, I insist, after all, this evening is meant to be about _me_ treating _you_."), you picked some action movie. Soon after, you were walking into the viewing room with drinks and a larger bucket of popcorn than you were sure the two of you were about to finish after your meal.

Papyrus chose seats right at the back for the two of you, claiming it allowed him to look down on everyone else, as things should be. Or something along those lines. You didn't hear him too well over the pre-movie chatter and ads. You also didn't hear the rustling of Papyrus checking the paper in his pocket one more time as you sat down and placed the popcorn between you.

The trailers began playing, and you looked around at the audience, mindlessly munching on the popcorn. Papyrus started up some small talk at some point, which was a little odd for him, and you could see him trying hard to test out calling you by pet names throughout, which was equally as odd coming from his toothy mouth. He hoped you wouldn't point it out, and you didn't, thank goodness. 

Not long after, the film began, and you ceased your conversation.

* * *

The muscle-bound protagonist was running through some long dark hallway, knocking down any of the bad guy's lackeys who happened to be in the way with a swift shove. It was thoroughly uninteresting, in Papyrus' opinion.

He looked over at you out of the corner of his eye, and saw you slowly reaching for the half-full popcorn bucket.

Oh! How could he forget - this was one of the bullet points!

Attempting to look unknowing and focused on the movie, he moved his own hand towards the popcorn. Careful, Papyrus, careful... got to get this right...

And then your hands touched.

Success.

But then, pretty much all sense of success he felt transformed into mild embarrassment as you looked up at him with an amused smile. He pulled his hand back, blushing, and actually looked at the screen.

That had gone right, right? Just like how she told him to. But it seemed small. And weird. Was that really necessary?

Of course it was. He trusted Undyne. Okay, what was next... the thing with the arm, yes.

He recalled the steps on the note, faking a yawn (quite excellently is he did say so himself), stretching his arms upward, and bringing the one closest to you down around you. You jumped at the suddenness of his hand on your other shoulder, but relaxed upon seeing what it was, and leaned into him, giggling.

It took him far longer than he found acceptable for his face to stop glowing so bright red.

* * *

With one last zoom out, the credits started rolling by, and you and the other moviegoers got up and left.

"So," you piped up as you walked out of the building. "What'd you think of the film?"

Papyrus shrugged. "It was decent, I suppose."

"Yeah, I hear you. I enjoyed it, though."

"Well... good. That was the idea."

"Heh." You grabbed Papyrus' hand, and swung your arms back and forth playfully as you walked. "Thanks for the great night out, Pap."

"You're...um...welcome, Y/N."

The two of you reached his car, and just as you were about to get in, Papyrus paused, recalling something. You watched him in confusion as he fished in his pocket for some paper and walked over to you, his eyes on the near unreadable (well, to your eyes anyway) scribbles the whole time.

He unfolded the paper slightly where a large portion had been folded over at the bottom, and cleared his throat.

"Y/N!" His eyes flitted between you and the paper. "Would you like to... come back to my place?" He squinted at the paper. "I am assured that, apparently, my brother will not be home! Whatever relevance that may have!"

The confusion on your face grew. "Paps, were you... wh... is this you... wanting to-"

Then you were giggling. Why were you giggling??

"Hey, Pap? Can I see your paper there? Just for a moment?"

He bristled at your request, pulling it closer to himself. "Um. No."

"C'mon, please?" you pleaded, showing your best puppy dog eyes.

...He hated the fact that he couldn't say no to that face. Reluctantly, he handed you his noted with a "Fine."

He watched your eyes as they scanned down the paper, burying the glowing blush on his face further into his scarf the longer you took.

"This has just been our entire date." you said, sounding somewhat accusatory to Papyrus' embarrassed ears - or lack thereof. Your smile said otherwise, however. Then you paused. "'Super Secret Y/N Wooing Tactics'? 'Only open post-date'? What's this?"

"I don't know, I've only looked at step one so far. Undyne seemed to not want me to read ahead, so..."

"This is dating advice from Undyne?" you asked, amused.

"Yes? What's wrong with that? She has a girlfriend, she knows what she's talking about." The skeleton folded his arms.

"Sure, Papy."

Papyrus flinched a little as you opened up the paper fully, reading over the special advice. He flinched even more when you burst out laughing.

"What?!" he exclaimed.

You looked at him, then put on your best Undyne voice and read the text aloud. "'One. Invite them to your place - don't worry about Sans being there, I'll make sure he's outta the house before you get back, just remember to be _super smooth_ about the whole thing.'"

You snickered.

"'Two. Bring 'em back to your pad. To your room, specifically.' Pfffft, okay, and then three, all caps, 'TAKE 'EM TO THE BONE ZONE!'"

You almost doubled over in your laughter, leaning on the car to stay stood up. "She drew a little winky face _oh my god_!" you wheezed.

Papyrus looked on blankly. Now he was the confused one. "What... I don't get it! What's funny? Would I be showing you my old special attack?? What's funny about that???"

"I guess that depends on what you mean by your 'special attack', eh?" you said, waggling your eyebrows.

After a few moments of you calming yourself down, you looked up at Papyrus. He cocked his head to the side, and it was at that point you realised he was serious.

"Well, uh..." You snickered again. "Maybe we'll follow that advice another time. For now, I just kinda wanna go home and sleep."

Papyrus, still thoroughly confused, nodded. "Um... alright."

He drove you home, hearing you giggle a few times and mutter things under your breath like "How would you even..." and "That Undyne, I swear..." every so often.

Apart from that, you drove in comfortable silence.

* * *

Papyrus walked with you to your front door when you got to your home.

"This was fun!" you exclaimed, opening the door. "Can't wait for our next date, heh."

"Y-yes. Indeed. I will look forward to it."

As you stepped inside, there was silence for a moment, broken by your voice.

"See you tomorrow then, I guess? Or whenever."

"Uh. Yes. Goodbye, Y/N. And goodnight."

He went to turn and leave, but before he could, you pressed your lips to his cheekbone in a kiss, pulling away with a loud "Mmmmwah!"

You...kissed him? You kissed him! You kissed him!? You **_kissed_** him.

His soul skipped a beat.

After stuttering, blank-faced, for a few seconds, he hid his burning-up face within his scarf entirely, stomping away to his car with nary another word.

"Heh, night, Papy!" you called after him, waving as he climbed in.

A second later, he was speeding off, his cherry-red face visible again.

* * *

Papyrus returned to find Sans laying casually on the couch, watching TV. Or trying to, at least - a frustrated Undyne was in front of him, blocking the screen.

"Fine! If I can't convince you to leave, I've got no choice but to use brute force!"

She grabbed the smaller skeleton by the leg to lift him up, but her efforts failed and she was brought crashing down, her head smacking into the couch as Sans' soul became blue for a second.

"Damnit, Sans! This is important! Quit this blue gravity magic bullcrap and get-"

Papyrus coughed, gathering the others' attention.

"Hey, Papyrus." said Sans, not bothering to turn his head to see his brother.

"Oh, shit, Paps! Hey! Uh..." Undyne said, looking over his shoulder. "Where's the human?"

"They wanted to go home. They got tired." Papyrus responded.

"But that wasn't in the plan!"

"Not in the initial plan," He gestured towards Sans. "Neither was my brother being here, apparently."

"I-" Undyne paused. "Fine. Whatever. Screw it. C'mon, you gotta tell me about the date!"

She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged the skeleton up to his room.

Sans relaxed further into the couch. Finally. Left alone at last.

Undyne sat, cross-legged across from Papyrus on his bed. "So, tell me all about it." She grinned widely at him.

"Well, your advice was very helpful. Everything worked well!" Apart from dinner, which he neglected to mention.

"Of course it did! Movies are the best source of education, right?!"

"Um. Right. There was just one thing..."

"Huh?"

"Umm... what's the 'Bone Zone'?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pfffffff look at this clueless skeleton what a dork I love him  
> (does this feel off at all? I feel like this chapter was kinda ooc for everybody phhblt)  
> so! I haven't really got anything more to really add to The Adventures of This Reader and This Fell!Papy so I'm gonna call it quits on this fic I think. it'll also be good for me to mark this as finished bc then I can say there's one less fic for me to work on BD  
> maybe if I have more ideas for these two I'll. do something. shruggo.  
> for real tho this one's been a fun one and I'm glad y'all have enjoyed it :> and thankyou for leaving so much wonderful feedback that I can look back on when I'm going through crappy times like right now <3 <3  
> come talk to me @ lollyholly99.tumblr.com I need me some friendos

**Author's Note:**

> hmu at my tumblr (lollyholly99) if you want to screech at me and complain. or for other reasons idk
> 
> I'm a dummy to the max


End file.
